1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, in general, to counting apparatus and, more specifically, to electronic counting apparatus for counting parts produced in a manufacturing operation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a manufacturing plant operation involving the production of parts, it is necessary to obtain an accurate count of the parts produced for both inventory and cost control. In such an operation, it is common to provide the counts of both good and waste parts produced by selected manufacturing equipment. Such counts are typically recorded by mechanical, clutch-driven counters which are selected by manually operated selector switches so as to respectively count either the good or waste parts produced. Although mechanical counters have performed satisfactorily in many manufacturing operations, their use has several drawbacks. For one, the mechanical counters are comprised of mechanical parts which are subject to wear over long periods of use such that the reliability of such counters is relatively low. Furthermore, the use of such mechanical parts inherently reduces the accuracy of the count totals. In addition, mechanical counters cannot temporarily hold a count while continually up-dating subsequent count pulses; it being desirable in certain instances to temporarily freeze the displayed count. Finally, it is often desirable in manufacturing plant operations to remotely locate production counters far from the actual manufacturing operation for supervisory functions, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,663,495. However, in so doing, individual control lines and counters are needed to remotely locate such counters from each individual manufacturing operation.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide counting apparatus for counting parts produced in a manufacturing plant which is more accurate, has higher reliability, is more flexible in terms of temporarily freezing the displayed production counts and also is able to be more conveniently located remote from the manufacturing site than the mechanical counters utilized extensively in the past.
Electronic counters have also been utilized in situations requiring high accuracy and reliability. However, such electronic equipment is extremely sensitive to the heat, dirt and vibrations common in most manufacturing plants and therefore, care must be taken in the placement and use of such electronic counters. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a production counter apparatus suitable for use in a manufacturing plant for counting and displaying production part counts. It would also be desirable to provide a production counter apparatus for use in a manufacturing plant which can be easily protected from the extreme conditions of heat, dirt and vibrations existant in the manufacturing plants. Finally, it would be desirable to provide a production counter apparatus which is extremely flexible insofar as selecting which events are to be monitored and, also, temporarily freezing the displayed count while the associated counter continues to up-date current count totals.